Skateboarding Guide
The NWMSU campus offers a lot of places for one to skateboard, with all of the typical obstacles: stairs, ledges, boxes, clean surfaces, and some unique obstacles like "The Circle." Skateboarding around campus is also a fun way to mesh with external social groups and escape some of the alienation and loneliness that can come with spending most of one's time in Cooper Hall.
Spots
Just outside Cooper
The first thing you'll probably notice is the area right outside of Cooper Hall, where you'll find a 3-stair, a downwardly-sloped ledge waxed for your boardsliding enjoyment, and (if you're lucky) a picnic table. This is a fun place to skate if you can't venture too far because, for example, it's too late or because you're just killing some time (and possibly yourself inadvertently) waiting for someone. The 3-stair has a low handrail with no knicks if your skill is sufficiently exquisite, but otherwise it's just a clean 3-.
Colden Hall
Colden Hall is the building where you'll take your English and Computer Science classes, so you don't want to go in there. Outside, though, you'll find a 4-stair with a long, smooth run-up, and a 5-stair that--though it must be approached from a diagonal angle--is wholly skateable. It's also joyous to ollie up the 4-stair. Another good thing about being at Colden is that the pond and trees are a stone's throw away (if you can throw stones pretty far) and it's easy to find shade on a humid day.
In the front, you'll find some high ledges to ollie off. Most have trenches, though.
The Circle (and surrounding area)
The Circle is a circularly-shaped bench that can provide for some fun skating. In addition to the challenge of getting up onto the bench, one then has to use extraordinary balance to stay on and continue riding the path of +-Sqrt[1 - x2].
Fine Arts Building
The Fine Arts Building has a semicircle ledge about X inches tall, and from that ledge on can attempt to ollie onto another, more narrow ledge.
There is also a parking lot there which is usually empty, which is nice if you've been reading The Catcher in the Rye and are tired of dealing with phonies.
Lamkin Athletic Center (front)
The front part of the Lamkin Center contains a nice quad set of 3-stairs, which one can ollie in succession. There's also a high ledge to jump off of on foot.
At the bottom of the stairs one can find the Fun Box.
Fun Box
The Fun Box is an elevated rectangular platform with a nice run-up. One can pull off some nice runs by doing a trick on--perhaps to a manual--and then pulling something cool when jumping off. There's also a curb right before, which one can use to enhance his/her run even more.
Rec. Center
The Rec. Center has some ledges and a two 5-stairs. The 5-stairs differ in that one is long and the other is steep. The steeper one has a trench at the bottom, positioned just so that your front truck can get lodged into it and you can eat a pleasurous concoction of teeth, blood and flesh, smashed to smitherenes and mixed thoroughly by the abrasive and unforgiving concrete living at the bottom. I usually go with the non-steep one.
On the side of this building you'll find some waxed ledges that you can pull some 50-50s or noseslides on, or simply ollie on and then off.
Miscelleaneous other things
Avoiding Campus Safety
Sometimes Campus Safety will hassle you for skateboarding on campus. Sometimes you should respect their wishes--for example, if a professor or citizen is bothered by the noise--and other times you should just jet. If I see a Campus Safety car circling around or one of the campus golf carts, I rocketeer to the back streets where I can't be followed by automobile. Then I go somewhere where I think I'm not being bothersome.
It's best to avoid confrontation. Skate away from cars and people, if possible. The best time of day to skate is night.
About waxing ledges
I advise against waxing ledges that aren't already waxed, and actually even those that they are. Doing so is unnecessary vandalism and is both damaging to the campus aesthetics and could get you into a lot of trouble.
Meeting other people
The psychology of many skateboarders is interesting. At first approach, many may seem reserved and in favor of skating alone, but usually if you are gregarious and help them skate (often you can do this by simply respecting their paths and not getting in their way) you'll learn that they really enjoy your company. When I approach local skaters I usually ask them "What's up?," where they're from, and how long they've been skating, or ask them what they're trying to pull off at the current moment.
I'm really glad I made the decision to start talking to locals. I've had a lot of fun and met some people from whom I can learn a lot about skating.
Cool Frat Guys
Sometimes you'll encounter hotshot frat guys from around campus who like to say things like "Do an ollie, dude!" There are many ways to deal with these folks, but my favorite is to be creepy. Tell them you are a witch and that you just put a spell on them, or pretend that you are deaf and can't hear them. If you're feeling sort of wild, bend your knees and try to skate between their legs. They'll get a good laugh out of this and probably invite you to some parties and to share in their Sigma Alpha Delta (SAD) lives, which provides a convenient opportunity for you to reject them.
Don't try to ollie over them, though. I'm serious. You're not as cool as you think and you'll probably decapitate someone, and then you'd get in-room suspension or something.
Credits
Photographs by Ruth Herrin
